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We All have Need…So Ask
By Pastor Michael McPherson
Part 4 of an 8 Part Series
I.
Introduction: I like to begin each sermon with a reminder of the
importance of getting ready to receive the Word of God. As you read these
questions, realize the conditions that are required for the Word of God to
produce fruit in your life.
a.
Who believes they will hear the Word of God today?
b.
Who is ready to have the Holy Spirit teach them?
c.
Who has come to humbly receive God’s Word today?
d.
Who is ready to put the Word you hear today into practice?
e.
If you allow God to enable you and to help you to do these things,
His Word will produce much fruit in your life.
II.
Let’s review what we have looked at in parts one through three of
this series.
a.
Without Christ we can do nothing.
b.
In other words, in order to produce true fruit, we need to fellowship
with God.
III.
One way to fellowship is by Asking, Seeking, Knocking (A.S.K.)
Matt 7:7-8
7 Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will
find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking
finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened. AMP
a.
A.S.K. needs to be nurtured as a habit that we do all of the time.
b.
The first step we need to do is to ask in prayer.
c.
Asking God in prayer should be the foundation of all of our
endeavors.
d.
There are times when we are called to call out and if we do not ask
we will not have.
e.
When we ask we must strive to ask in the boldness, humility and faith
of a child.
IV.
As important as it is to ask and keep on asking, it is important to
seek and keep on seeking.
a.
We are not to be primarily seeking after things to fill our desires
and fears.
b.
Instead we are to be SEEKING to SEE the KING (Seek God’s rule in our
lives).
c.
It is important to be seeking God’s will before we pray so we can
have the confidence we will receive what we ask.
d.
It is important to be seeking God’s rule after we have prayed so we
can find out when God will provide, where God will provide, how God will
provide and what He wants us to do with His provisions.
V.
We need to Seek to find God’s rule in our prayers and our lives.
a.
Note that I say rule and not rules.
b.
God wants us to seek His rule, not His rules.
c.
What is the difference in Scripture?
i.
Rules are a list of laws we try to follow: thou shall do this and
thou shall not do that.
1.
For example, there are dozens of traffic rules that are supposed to
govern how we drive.
ii.
On the other hand, rule is living in a relationship in which someone
is in charge of you.
1.
If you learned to drive with your father in the car, you did not
necessarily care about all of different rules that govern driving.
2.
You just trusted he understood the rules and you did what he said.
iii.
Under the old covenant, we lived under rules.
iv.
Under the new covenant God desires us to live under His rule.
VI.
Unfortunately, most of us would rather drive through life governed by
rules rather than God’s rule.
a.
If your driving through life is governed by rules, there is nobody in
the car telling you what to do.
i.
It seems great!
ii.
The rules tell you what you can and cannot do, but you get to decide
your destination.
1.
I choose my job, my friends, where I live and what I do.
2.
I set my rules and my borders and as long as I am in boundary, I can
do what I want.
iii.
Being governed by rules is also nice because rules “were meant to be
bent or broken”.
1.
How many here have violated the speed limit when it was convenient
and they thought they would not get caught?
2.
We do the same thing driving through life governed by rules.
a.
I can sleep around and ask for forgiveness.
b.
I don’t have to walk in love on this business deal because I’ll tithe
off of the money I make.
c.
It’s a white lie and it won’t hurt anybody so I can use it to get out
of a jam.
d.
I’m under the perfect law of liberty so I can do as I want and God
will meet me on my terms.
b.
Choosing your own destination on the road of life and being able to
break the rules seems great.
i.
That is until you get lost or you get a ticket.
1.
Being your own navigator is great until you hit a detour or life’s
circumstances send you into to a scary neighborhood.
2.
Bending and breaking the rules is great until you go through the
humiliation of getting a ticket, the loss of paying for a ticket and the
aggravation of having the points show up on your licenses.
VII.
Driving through life under God’s rule is different.
a.
Driving through life under God’s rule requires you to check with Him
before every turn, every detour, and every stop.
b.
You don’t disregard the rules of the road, but you listen to Him
instead of trying to interpret them on your own.
i.
You don’t get to choose you own destination, but you are never truly
lost.
ii.
You can never truly get away with breaking the rules, but you never
get a ticket.
VIII.
In the life of the Apostle Paul, we can see the difference between
driving through life guided by rules and driving through life guided by
God’s rule.
a.
As Saul the Pharisee, Paul was governed by God’s rules.
b.
As Paul the Apostle, Paul was governed by God’s rule.
IX.
As Saul, this devout Pharisee lived his life seeking to be guided by
God’s rules.
a.
Saul was very good at following rules.
Phil 3:4-6
4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he
may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day,
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews;
concerning the law, a Pharisee ; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church;
concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
b.
Note the phrase “concerning the righteousness which is in the law,
blameless”.
i.
In other words, he was saying as Saul, I followed every single rule
in the Old Testament.
ii.
According to some Rabbi’s they calculate about 613 rules in the Old
Testament.
iii.
These rules covered everything from washing your hands to worshiping
God.
c.
To be legally righteous in all that he did, Saul had to continually
and arduously seek to submit to these rules.
d.
Yet even though Saul was seeking to submit to God’s rules, he was not
fellowshipping with God or abiding in Jesus.
i.
In fact while guided by rules Saul: rejected Jesus, persecuted the
Church, and held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen.
ii.
Saul managed to keep the 613 rules he thought would make him
righteous, while resisting God’s attempts to guide him into true
righteousness. (Act 26:14)
iii.
To seek and keep seeking after rules is not a key to fellowship or
being fruitful.
X.
As Paul, the apostle was quite different.
a.
Paul was not governed by rules; he was led by God’s rule.
b.
Paul did not seek to submit to the 613 rules; he sought to submit to
God personally leading him.
i.
Paul did not drive through life going where he wanted to go and doing
what he wanted to do as long as it did not violate the 613 rules.
ii.
Instead, in every decision he made he sought to find God’s will for
that decision.
iii.
By doing this and seeking God’s rule, Paul was set free from having
to seek God’s rules.
Gal 5:18
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
c.
Paul was trying to tell the Galatians that if they were subject to
the rule of God, they did not have to seek and keep on seeking the rules of
God.
i.
Paul fellowshipped with God, not by following rules, but by
submitting to the rule of God.
ii.
Paul was fruitful, not by following external laws, but by submitting
to the leading of the Spirit of God.
XI.
Do you seek and keep on seeking rules or do you seek and keep on
seeking God’s rule.
a.
Are you governed by a bunch of rules?
i.
Do you set up boundaries and then do as you please as long as you are
in your “religious safe zone”?
b.
Or do you seek a lifestyle of being governed by God’s rule?
i.
Do you seek and keep on seeking God’s input for your life instead of
making your own decisions based upon your interpretation of external laws?
c.
Do you relate to God as Saul or do you relate to God as Paul?
d.
Is you life governed like a Pharisee or is your life governed like a
Child of the Living God?
XII.
Even seeking to be governed by two rules is still seeking rules.
a.
Many of us try to “spiritualize” our rules.
b.
We try continually seeking the royal rules: To love God with all of
our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
(Mk 12:30)
c.
We try focusing on these two rules and we try to interpret them as
best as we can.
XIII.
I used to do this.
a.
I mean it is sure a lot easier to seek after 2 rules than it is 613.
b.
After all these are the two rules upon which are built all of the Law
and the Prophets. (Mt 22:40)
c.
Living guided only by the rules of loving God and each other gives us
plenty of space.
i.
It made it easy to wander around and do what I wanted as long as I
did not think I was crossing the boundary.
ii.
Unfortunately, I could not see the boundary.
d.
Our carnal nature does not understand a spiritual love for God or
man.
e.
Without being governed by God’s rule, there was no way I could follow
these rules.
i.
Why? Because sometimes spiritual love (agape) encourages and
sometimes it dissuades, sometimes it chastises and sometimes it nurtures,
sometimes it overlooks and sometimes it specifically addresses.
ii.
Spiritual love always seeks the best for others.
iii.
Unfortunately on my own, I have neither the strength nor the wisdom
to do what is best for anybody.
1.
This is the weakness of trying to follow the rules of God.
2.
They are so very perfect and we are so very not perfect!
XIV.
Does that mean that we can go and break the rules? No.
a.
The rules of God help us to see what is right and wrong, good and
bad, pleasing and displeasing to God.
b.
The rules of God are boundaries so that we know what paths we should
not take.
1 Cor 10:23
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things
are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
c.
Under the New Covenant we are in right standing before God through
faith in Jesus.
d.
Because of this we do not have to obey a bunch of rules in order for
God to like us.
e.
But the rules still guide us into those things that are helpful and
those things that edify.
i.
As you allow the rule of God to reign in your life, He will guide you
into the rules that are helpful and edifying for you.
ii.
Only God’s rule can enable you to walk in the liberty of God without
giving an opportunity to your flesh.
XV.
To seek and keep seeking God’s rule can be hard for us.
a.
One of the reasons it is difficult is because it is much easier to
memorize a bunch of rules than it is to hear from the Living God.
b.
Sometimes finding what God wants you to do in a specific situation is
hard.
i.
It is usually much easier to be guided by laws, tradition or
experience than to be guided by God’s rule.
c.
However, we are promised if we seek and keep on seeking we will find.
XVI.
We need to seek God. What do you suppose the first step in seeking
is? Asking!
a.
Remember, we should try to make asking part of the foundation of all
that we do.
b.
You cannot find God’s rule on your own.
i.
No matter how wise, spiritual, hard working, or earnest you are, you
cannot find God’s rule on your own.
ii.
God’s rule is not discovered, it is revealed.
iii.
God must reveal it to you.
Matt 16:15-17
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered
and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered
and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
c.
The word translated “revealed” is the Greek word apokalupto.
Revealed: apokalupto (ap-ok-al-oop'-to); from
NT:575 and NT:2572; to take off the cover, i.e. disclose:
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded
Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and
International Bible Translators, Inc.)
d.
Note that Jesus plainly told Peter that God had revealed this truth
to him.
i.
Peter did not come to the truth because he was smart or spiritual.
ii.
Peter came to the truth because God unveiled it for Peter.
e.
The same is true in all of our lives: God must reveal the truth to
us.
f.
This is why it is absolutely imperative that we start all seeking
with asking.
i.
If you have been seeking and have not found, check yourself to see if
you have asked.
XVII.
If you ask God to guide you, look for Him moving in your life.
a.
If you are not paying attention you may miss Him or dismiss His
activity.
b.
We can ask and start seeking and become distracted by life.
i.
If we are too distracted, we can miss God when He reveals the truth.
ii.
When you ask God and start seeking to find His rule, ask Him to help
you maintain a spiritual focus so you do not miss Him when He speaks.
XVIII.
Now this begs a question: “How does God speak?”
a.
God speaks in various ways: there are at least 5 ways: signs
and wonders, through Scripture, circumstances, the Church, and through
prayer.
XIX.
God speaks through signs and wonders.
a.
The Bible records various supernatural means God has used to speak to
His people: Angels-Gen 16, Visions-Gen 13, Dreams-Gen 28:10-19, Urim and
Thummin –Ex 28:30, Symbolic Actions (the potter and the clay) Jer 18:1-10,
Gentle Whispers 1 Kings 19:12, Miraculous Signs-(the fleece and the dew)
Judges 6:36-40
b.
There are times in our lives when God will do something miraculous to
reveal His rule.
c.
To send my father to Key West, God audibly spoke to my father.
XX.
God Speaks through Scripture.
2 Tim 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good
work.
a.
God has given us the Bible to instruct us in His rule.
b.
When trying to make a decision about going back to school and getting
a Master’s degree God spoke to me and gave me clear direction through a
Scripture.
XXI.
God Speaks through circumstances.
Prov 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your
paths.
a.
“Direct your path” literally means make your path right.
b.
If we are seeking God’s rule, He can literally open one door and
close another.
c.
This method of guidance is often abused because we do what we want
and then ask God to stop us.
i.
Note what God calls us to do: trust in the Lord, lean not on own
understanding, know Him in our ways.
1.
As we trust in God instead of ourselves we open a door for God’s
guidance.
2.
As we know Him in our ways we seek out His will.
ii.
This is more than a simple prayer before you do what you want.
1.
Don’t simply do what you want and ask God to stop you.
a.
We need to let God choose how He will speak to us.
b.
We cannot dictate to Him how we want Him to speak to us.
2.
This is earnestly relying upon God and trying to look for Him in our
situation.
d.
As we truly seek God, He can speak to us by changing our
circumstance.
e.
When my wife and I were looking to buy a house, we kept seeking God
to show us the house He wanted us to have.
i.
Time after time strange occurrences seemed to close doors that should
have been opened.
ii.
Eventually, all of the doors opened all at once and we quickly found
ourselves in the perfect house.
XXII.
God speaks through the Church.
1 Cor 12:7-10
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of
all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to
another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by
the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning
of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another
the interpretation of tongues.
a.
God has gifted people within the Church to be used by Him to minister
to His people through a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge or prophecy.
b.
Sometimes God will direct your life, by giving a word to somebody
else to give to you.
c.
One of the clearest words of prophecy I ever received came from my
brother about a business venture I was entering.
XXIII.
God speaks through prayer.
a.
Prayer is meant to be a dialogue not a monologue.
b.
When you pray, you need to let the Spirit tell you what Jesus is
saying.
John 16:13
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
c.
Note the Scripture says that the Spirit will “tell you”.
d.
When we pray, we are supposed to let the Spirit tell us what Jesus is
saying.
e.
This is one of the most personal ways of seeking God’s rule, and it
is also one of the most difficult ways.
XXIV.
God speaks through signs and wonders, the Bible, circumstances, the
Church and prayers.
a.
God is seeking to reveal His rule to you.
b.
Are you listening?
c.
Do you understand what He is saying?
d.
Let he who has ears to hear, hear what the voice of the Lord is
saying to the Church!
e.
Let those who are seeking the rule of God, hear His voice!
f.
Lord willing, we will learn more about hearing God’s voice in our
next service.
Lesson Summary:
- We need to seek God’s rule in our lives, not God’s
rules.
- Seeking God’s rules is trying to govern our own
lives by external laws.
- Seeking God’s rule is seeking Him to help us make
every decision.
- Seeking God’s rule helps us to walk in fellowship
and to be fruitful; seeking God’s rules does not.
- Even “spiritualized rules” are still rules and do
not help us because the laws are perfect and we are not.
- One of the hardest parts of seeking God’s rule is
hearing His voice.
- We can seek God’s rule by hearing His voice through
sign and wonders, the Bible, circumstances, the Church and through prayer.
- God is speaking, are you listening?
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